Ask the agent
Should I walk into a brokerage, and what do I say?
Yes, and bring nothing but the camera. One agent is one sale. A brokerage is twenty sales and a moat, and it’s easy to say no to somebody who doesn’t know you. The camera on your shoulder says what you do. The pamphlet says you’re the guy in the lobby.
Bring nothing but the camera
No pamphlets, no flyer stack, no business cards fanned on the desk. The camera on your shoulder says what you do before you open your mouth.
The guy in the lobby brought things to leave behind. That’s the tell. He wants to drop something and go. You’re there to get a name.
One question at the front desk: "Who do I talk to about becoming a media partner here?" Not "is the broker in," not "can I leave these."
If the broker’s in, don’t pitch. Get permission to come back. The first visit buys the second one.
Walk in, ask the question, write down the name, and leave. Five minutes. You were never the guy in the lobby because you never stood in the lobby.
Buy the one hour they can’t leave
The desk gets you a name. This move gets you in front of the whole office.
Twenty agents in one room, nobody leaving, and the broker introducing you. Compare that to twenty cold texts.
Ask the broker: "When’s your next team meeting? I’ll sponsor it." The sales meeting is the one hour a week an agent can’t leave. I sat in ten years of them. The vendor who sponsors lunch gets that hour. Flyers get the recycling bin.
Can’t get the meeting yet? Send Crumbl cookies to the front desk with a stack of promo codes and a note: "Give these to the five agents you love or hate."
Cookies cost less than a flyer run and nobody throws them away. The promo codes get handed to the agents the desk likes, which is who you want anyway.
Pitch the brand, not the price
Now you’re in front of the broker. This is where most photographers lead with a discount and lose the room.
Ten agents in his office use ten photographers. Put ten of their listings side by side and the brokerage brand looks scattered on the MLS. Ten styles, one sign.
The broker sees that scatter every time he scrolls his own office’s listings. He’s never had anyone name it. You’re naming it.
One media partner makes the whole office look like one company. That’s what you’re selling him. Not a rate.
No rate on the table yet. The rate comes after he’s asked how it works, and he will, because you just described a problem he’s had for years.
My KW office of 120 agents became my base this way. They now pay $5,000 to have me train them.
Who do I talk to about becoming a media partner here?
Walk in as the media partner, not the guy in the lobby.
Pick two brokerages within ten minutes of home and walk into both this Tuesday with the camera on your shoulder.
The agent opener scripts
One observation, one question, and the day 3 and day 10 follow-ups. Free. Then take the sixty-second roadmap quiz and I tell you what to fix first.
Get the scriptsGet my roadmapStraight answers
- Should real estate photographers visit brokerages in person?
- Yes. One agent is one sale. A brokerage is twenty. Walk in with the camera on your shoulder and ask who you talk to about becoming a media partner.
- What should I bring when I walk into a real estate office?
- Only the camera. No pamphlets, no flyer stack. The camera says what you do, and the flyers go in the recycling.
- How do I get in front of all the agents at a brokerage?
- Sponsor the sales meeting. Ask the broker when the next team meeting is and offer to bring lunch. It’s the one hour a week an agent can’t leave.
Related questions
Julian Lundgren sold real estate for ten years before he shot a listing for money. He runs Cineminn, a Minneapolis real estate photography studio, and writes these answers from the agent’s side of the table. Send a question to info@cineminn.com.